Welcome to this week's episode of In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, a special series of our podcast dedicated to interviewing astounding creative artists that are based here at home in Roscommon. In these interviews we will be talking to actors, theatre-makers, drama facilitators, comedians, writers, directors, poets, producers, a dancer and a weaver. We will discuss how they started in their profession, obstacles they have faced, how they have been impacted by the pandemic, the importance of creativity in their lives, their influences, how they stay motivated to keep creating and most importantly how you, the listener, can support their work. We are keen to make our audiences all around the world aware of the constant stream of Roscommon-based creative work. We also hope this series will encourage some of you to support local art, recognise its necessity and maybe even pursue some creative endeavours of your own. This series comes to you thanks to the generous support of Roscommon County Council who have kindly commissioned this series and endorsed us with the necessary equipment and software to record the interviews safely and remotely during the Summer of 2021.

This week Sharon Mannion is joining us for a chat. Sharon is an actor, comedian, writer and facilitator of stand-up workshops from Roscommon now based in Dublin and works frequently with Dublin Comedy Improv group. She started out in Inchicore where she trained in acting, and soon discovered stand-up upon graduating, when she started doing open mic gigs in the International Bar in Dublin. Sharon generously talks us through her journey into the performance life and the empowerment of her role as the comic. Improvisation is the way to Sharon’s heart, and we discuss that fatal moment of getting “stuck” and how to push past it. We discuss gender imbalance in the comedy scene, as well as other difficulties of sustaining a career in the arts, including transferring to online comedy nights with Dublin Comedy Improv group at the beginning of the pandemic, bringing joy and laughter to the actor’s lives and to those all around the world. She also answered our questions on her incredible one woman show ‘the Curse of the Button Accordian,’ a hilarious autobiographical piece recounting her time growing up in Roscommon and her journey to becoming the incredible and fierce woman you hear from today. Sharon recounted how she got the idea from page to stage, including the collaboration of having her own writing directed by someone else. This interview is a great listen for anyone who wants to get into comedy, stand-up, improv and acting, as Sharon gives great advice about starting out, trusting your creative instincts and collaborating with others to network and find your creative troupe.

You can see Sharon’s work on ‘Mondays on Zoom’ with Dublin Comedy Improv, you can find them on Facebook, or find her on Twitter @sharonmannion2 , where she posts most often about her work. Blasts from the Past is to come back in 2022, so keep an eye out for that. (update this depending on release day). You can find our podcast, In Fairness, on Acast, Spotify and Itunes. You can hear more from us and our interviewees on our Instagram, @infairnesspod, same on Twitter, and In Fairness Podcast on Facebook. Feel free to get in touch on any of these platforms with any questions or suggestions that you may have for us. Thank you again to Roscommon County Council for their support in helping us create this series, and to our wonderful mentor Catherine Sheridan for keeping us in check and bringing us both together at the very beginning of our journey. You have been listening to In Fairness Inquire: Roscommon Artists, Research and questions by Molly Mew, Sound engineering, editing and producing by Misha Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for listening.

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